Insole and process of making the same



March 2, 1937. w N 2,072,727

INSOLE AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Sept. 11, 1955 10 1% ve flier 11 J2 fizz M 7+ (7%.

Patented Mar. 2, 1937- UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,012.72: INSOLE AND. rnocnss OF 'MAKING THE' sane This invention consists in an improved insole for use in the man1 .1facture' of womens shoes. The invention includes within its scope anovel process of making such soles by steps which may 5; be carried out conveniently under conditionsof commercial manufacture and without requiring particular shoe making skill.

In the manufacture of fine shoes for womens wear there is an insistent demand for an extremely flexible light weight bottom and a no less insistent demand that the fine lines of" the last and close edge effect in the shank and forepart shall be maintained in the finished shoe. These two requirements are antagonistic in a measure because an insole of the desired fiexibility and lightness has not the strength to withstand the severe strains of tight lasting without being-distorted. Ihave'discovered however, that.

it is practical to reinforce the insole temporarily and during the shoe making process by securing threto an inextensible sheet, as of fibre of high tensile strength, which may remain in place'during the lasting operation, and which will carry lies under the wearers foot in the finished shoes This blank is skived to reduce the entire area of 35 its forepart and to form a zone of gradual increasing thicknessat the forward end of the shank orbhind the ball line. This, it is believed, is a skiving operation which has not heretofore'beencarried out in connection with insole 4o blanks and it makes possible the improved reinforced insole of my invention. One manner .of

carrying it out is in connection with a matrix roll skiving or splitting machine organized to remove a skiving. of substantially uniform thickness from 45 the entire forepart of the sole terminating in a bevelled portion running out i to the outer face of the blank. Having'prepare the blank in this manner, a reinforcing sheet of flexible but inextensible fibre is temporarily secured to the smooth- 50 inner face of the blank by cement of limited adhesive power. The reinforced insole may then be tacked .to the last bottom and the shoe-making process mayJthen be carried out with all assurance that no distortionof the insole will occur 55 resulting in releasing of the lasted upper detracting from fine lasting. This is because every part of the flexible insole blank is supported in continuous face to face engagement by the inextensible fibre reinforcement. The lasting operation, the subsequent shoe making operations, such as levelling, and the drying out of the shoe on the last, all of which impart strains to the insole, may then be carried out without special consideration to the insole. At the conclusion of the shoe making process, when the last has been pulled from the finished shoe, the reinforcing sheet may be readily stripped from the smooth inner face of the insole, thus presenting a shoe bottom of beautiful appearance and of extreme lightness and flexibility, and one in which the fine lines of the last have been meticulously preserved.

skiving operation required.

Fig.2 is a view in perspective, partly in section, showing the skived insole blank as it comes from the machine of Fig. 1,

'Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the complete reinforced insole, v

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective illustrating the application of the reinforced insole to the last bottom, and

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective with part broken away illustrating operation of stripping the reinforcing sheet from the inner face of the insole in the finished shoe.

The basis of my improved'insole, as shown in Fig. 2 is a blank of flexible leather or composition having the contour of the complete shoe bottom and being reduced in'thickness throughout its forepart l2. The entire forepart is preferably reduced to a uniform thickness, the blank tapering gradually at the forward end of the shank to fullthickness in its shank'and rear portion ill. In reducing the forepart I prefer to remove a skivingfromthe outer face'of the blank leaving the inner, or lower face as seen in Fig. 2, smooth and uninterrupted. If the blank includes the grain of the leather this will be retained in the inner face of the-blank and the skiving removed from the flesh side.

-Havi-ng prepared the blank in the manner above explained, a reinforcing sheet I4 is cemented to the inner face of the Iblank in contiiiuous, coextensive contact and coinciding in Y shape therewith about its margin. If desired the rear edge of the reinforcing sheet may have a projecting tab or tongue l6 t assist in remov- 5 ing the sheet afterthe lasting operation} The reinforcing sheet l4 may be of any pliable and inexten'sible material having sufficient tensile tively great, a union is secured which is adequate for purposes of this invention. Having prepared the reinforced insole as shown in- Fig. 3, it may now be utilized in the shoe makingnprocesses as conveniently and with the same assurance as a. heavy molded insole. 'As suggestedin Fig. 4 the reinforced insole is tacked to the bottom of the last l8 with its inner reinforced face against the last bottom. The lasting operation'is then carried out and in this'the lasted margin of ,the upper 20 is drawn tightly 3 over the edge'oi' the last and the margin of the insole and secured in place by lasting tacks driven into the insole or into. the last bottom. Eventually the lasted margin is united to the edge of the insole by cement or stitching and when the. lasting tacks are reinoved the entirestrain of the lasted upper devolves upon the insble. It is at this stage of the shoe making process that the insole as a whole must be inextensible and proof against stretching or distortion. The lasted shoe is allowed to dry out upon the last and diiring the drying. operation, the strainupon the insole may be even more increased by the shrinking'of the upper upon the last. However, atthe conclusion of the drying operation,- the upper material and all parts of the shoeare set in their; final shape, the natural stretch havingbeen substantially removed. Accordingly, when the last has been pulled, all. external strains have been eliminated and there is no further necessity forfgreat strength in'the insole. Under thesecircumstances the reinforcing. astrip It may be stripped off the inner, face of the insole 12 as suggested in Fig. leaving the shoe with a very alight flexible forepart and presenting within the shoe a smooth unblemished insole face',=-.a

characteristic highly prized in good shoe making and attractive to the wearer. As already intimated the forepart. I 2 of the insole blank, may be reduced in a matrix-roll-machine in a novel skiving operation and this is sli gested in Fig. 1 of the drawing which illustrates somewhat diagrammatically" one type of ski ving machine suitable for the purpose; The ma chine comprisesja frame having an outwardly extending work table 2 l and a stationary but ad-v :Iustable sklvingor splitting knife 22; Joumalled in :the upper part of the frame is atoothed. feed roll- 23 which may comprise yielding sections or which may-be mounted in vertically yielding bearings, but which-is at all times-aimed downwardly towardsthe matrix roll in a yielding. manner. The .rnatrix roll 24 is journalled in fixed bearings in the, lower part of the machine "frame and is herein shown as provided with a portion of the insole blank is reached, as for ex- It will b'eunderstood that while I hav herein therein.

, tion.

high portion of substantially the samelength as the forepart of the blank to be treated and with thematrix cavity somewhat longer than the rear and shank portions of the blank. Flexible hold-down fingers 25 are arranged between the sections of the feed roll 23 .and--assist-in, pressing the stock into the cavity of the matrix roll.

In usingsuch a machine asthat suggested in Fig. 1 the insole blank is advanced by feeding mechanism operating in timed relation to the matrix roll thus introducing the toe end of the blank while the high portion of the matrix is in operative position, with the result that the sole is advanced in a lifted position to the knife 22, and a substantial skiving removed from its upper face) The skiving passes upwardly above the edge of the. knife 22 and theskived sole blank passes downwardly beneath it. Whenthe desired ample, the end of the shank, the end of the matrix roll cavity comes into operative position allowing the insole blank to be gradually forced downwardly so that the splitting .knife 22. rides out of the blank forming a bevelled zone extending to the point where the full thickness of the blank is received within the matrix roll and carried beneath the splitting knife 22.

illustrated my invention as appliedto an integral insole blank, it would not be outside the scope of the invention to apply separate or additional reinforcing means to the shank of the insole blank,

or to modify its structure in any way so long as a smooth continuous inner face D s is maintained Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

The pmcess a g reinforced insoles; "40

' which consists in skiving a sole blank to reduce it over the entire area of its forepart and to form a zone of gradually increasing thickness near its "ball line, and temporarily cementing to the un-,

skived face of said reduced forepart an inextensible sheet of relatively high tensile strength, coinciding substantially with the forepart of the sole in contour and extending a short distance'over the unreduced part of thesole.

2. The process of making reinforced insoles, which consists in skiving an insolg blankupon its outer surface to reduce it over the entire area of itsforepart and to form a zone of gradually increasing thickness adjacent to its ball line, and temporarily attaching to the unskived face of the.

' said reduced forepart a sheet of thin, inextensiblq material which terminates inv the vicinity of the ball line and coincides in contour with the contour of the forepart of the insole. i 3. A reinforced,'insolecomprising an integral bodyhav'ing the contour of the complete sole and being of less thickness throughout. its forepart and of greater flexibility than elsewhere, and an 'inextensible reinforcing sheet temporarily v.at-

tached to. the face of the thin forepart'which is. exposed inside the finished shoe, whereby it maybe stripped from the insole after the lasting'opera-v 4. A reinforced insole comprising anintegral body havinga smooth, flatinner face, and an outer face-with a bevelled zone therein, the insole being of less thickness throughout its forepart than elsewhere, and-an inextensible reinforcing. sheet coinciding in contour with the forepart of 1 the insole and attached temporarily to its "fiat 2,072,727 I I 3 inner face in position to take the strain of the and flexible to withstand without distortion the lasting operation about the 'forepart of the shoe in which the insole is used.

5. A reinforced insole comprising an integral full-length body having a smooth fiat inner face and an outer face with a bevelled zone therein, the

insole being of less thickness and greater flexibility strain of the lasting operation, and a thin fibre reinforcing sheet temporarily attached to the not face of the thin forepart of the insole in coextensive relation therewith, and adapted to be lasted into the shoe with the insole and stripped therefrom after the removal of the last from the shoe.

"WILLIAMHENRYBAIN. 

